Monday, May 30, 2011

Huraay! I have finished my Konya 15 minutes ago and decided to post the pictures tonight. I can't wait to hear what you think about it.

Konya carpets are named for the region in which they were made. Konya is a city in Central Anatolia in Turkey which was originally known as Iconium. Konya was the capital of Seljuks between 1071 and 1308. In 1292, Marco Polo was the first to make mention of the Konya carpets in writing when he called them the most beautiful in the world, according to Wikipedia. The design of the rug I stitched is very rare for Konya region.

My Konya was stitched on 40 count silk gauze with Gloriana silk. The size of the finished rug is 3.5" x 5.5". Next step will be blocking. I probably will do it tomorrow.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

For today I completed 3/4 of the background on my Konya rug. I will post a picture only of the finished project.

While stitching the boring background I have been thinking about one of my favorite Russian movies that was maid in 1969 and I liked to watch it as a kid, "Варвара-краса, длинная коса" that I will translate as "Varvara the Beautiful, Long Braid". Varvara is a girl's name. The film tells about how Andrey (the fisherman's son) and Varvara (the daughter of underwater tsar) met and fell in love with each other inspite of all possible insidiousness and intrigues.

Varvara was a magic weaver and she made (weaved, stitched...) her rugs with the help of her beautiful big eyes. Here is the link to this movie. The movie is in Russian but with English subtitles (you actually can select the language of subtitles).

If you start watching at 27:22 you will find out that Varvara's dad (underwater tsar-monster) sent his servants to the headshoppers and the servants ran to Varvara to ask for the help. Varvara - sweetheart - helped them and magically "weaved" a beautiful rug in seconds!

I wish I would have such talent: to stitch with my eyes and in no time!

Monday, May 23, 2011

Usually I don't stitch during the night - too dark, but last night I couldn't sleep till 4.00 AM in the morning, so to make myself busy I started the medallion and today I finished it. Now it is time to start stitching the background - the most boring part for me.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Stage 2 is finished, all elements are stitched. I will start stitching the medallion today.

Unfortunately, yesterday they cancelled Wordturning class due to the instructor being sick. I was very upset because I have been waiting for that day for the whole month! Well, let's wait till next Saturday.

If you remember, back in March I got the furniture that Elga
http://elgakoster.blogspot.com/
made for me http://scarletsailsminiatures.blogspot.com/2011/03/elgas-work.html
Here is a night table with a plastic insert on the top

and this is the same night table with inserted petitpoint stitched on 49 count, my design.

I wonder, where do you find the inspiration when you feel like you don't want to do anything, when actually you don't want to be alone but at the same time can't tolerate any noise, when it has been raining cats and dogs outside for several weeks in a row?
As for me, I usually go through my books, magazines, etc... Last Monday, a week ago, I spent couple of hours cleaning the bookshelves and found the book "America's Great Houses" that I bought last year. This book reminded me that I have a new hobby: visiting old mansions. At this point I have seen only one mansion so far - the Campbell House in Spokane, WA. I told my Sweetheart: "Today kids go to the school and we go to Idaho".
It was a road trip that took us an hour and half to arrive to the McConnell Mansion in Moscow, ID - an eclectic mix of Eastlake, Victorian, Gothic, and Queen Anne styles, this 2-story clapboard residence was the most impressive residence in town when it was built in 1886.

The owner of the mansion, William J. McConnell, was an energetic pioneer.

The interior retains the original cedar louvered shutters:

and hall stair bannister that were shipped from San Francisco by steamboat and wagon

as well as a few of the McConnell original furnishings, including a Victorian majolica vase in the formal parlor:

Period furnishings, as well as pieces from subsequent owners, fill the rest of the house:

This is my favorite piece:

I learned something new after visiting the McConnell Mansion. Have you ever heard about wreaths made from human hair? I haven't. This is the picture that depicts the wreath made from the human hair in 1900-1902

Is anyone dare to reproduce it in miniature using "doll's hair" like viscose, lama fur? Interesting idea, do you agree?

I am so happy to share the good news with you: I have been accepted as a dealer for Chicago International Show 2012. I am very thrilled and excited to have that kind of experience, to meet new people and make new friends, to show my work. Here is the link to the Tom Bishop's Productions
http://www.bishopshow.com/chiinfo.htm
and dealer list:
http://www.bishopshow.com/dealerlistchi.htm
I hope to see you there.

There are a lot of wonderful people in this world. I was happy to meet one of those. Cheryl belongs to the Coeur-d-Allene Dollhouse Miniature Club. She is an amazing lady, miniature collector and a very interesting person. Couple weeks ago she gave me a mini lathe because she didn't use it and she thought that I might needed it. She was correct: I needed the lathe so badly!

I also purchased a book "Turning Miniatures in Wood" by John Sainsbury

and started to experiment with woodturning. It didn't work for me as good as I pictured it in my head. I decided I needed more than the lathe and the book, I needed somebody who would show me how actually to use the lathe and I signed up with 2 classes in Woodturning. The first class will be on the 23rd of May and I can't wait to learn because I started working on a table in 1:12 scale and the legs for this table should be turned. So, expect more posts about my adventure in Woodturning.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

I finished stitching Chinese NINGHSIA rug last month. Unfortunately I can't post a picture of it yet because it is still hanging on stretches. Today I started a new rug "Konya". The design was adopted from an antique rug and charted by me. I use 40 count silk gauze and Gloriana silk. If I do as many stitches as I did today I should finish this rug at the end of May. I will post the progress of stitching each day.